In affidavits,letters Asthana wrote he was under pressure

These affidavits,and the almost one dozen letters sent by Asthana before his death,turn the entire affair murkier. The Indian Express accessed letters sent by him to various authorities in the last almost one year,detailing efforts by many,particularly his co-accused — most of whom were arrested after Asthana named them — to force him to go back on his sworn statement that he made before the Ghaziabad Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate on April 28 last year.

In an affidavit dated August 1,2008,Asthana told the court about an earlier affidavit and application dated July 18,2008 that his co-accused had forced him to write in jail after threatening him. Asthana also claimed that the date of the affidavit that he was forced to write was changed by his co-accused to July 18,2008 though they had forced him to write the affidavit on July 5,2008.

Denying that he had written the July 5-affidavit voluntarily,Asthana requested the court not to take cognizance of the same. However,this affidavit,which Asthana later denied having written on his own,is now part of court record and could turn out to be the most important defence of the accused. For,in this affidavit,Asthana claimed that the entire scam — in which 83 accused have been named so far — was his handiwork alone.

“No other Class III,IV,no outsider or any member of my family knew about the scam and the modus operandi. In order to pay back the money siphoned off by me,I am ready to sell my properties that have been attached by the court. Once I do this,the court should compassionately consider my bail application as well as the charges against me,” his affidavit,which he later claimed to have written under pressure,reads.

Consider the letter dated February 15,which he sent from his prison cell in District Jail,Ghaziabad ,to Upper District Judge,Ghaziabad,in which Asthana claimed that some of his co-accused,who were also lodged in the same jail,were repeatedly harassing and threatening him.

Earlier,on February 6,Asthana had been attacked in the prison by some of his co-accused.

Most of these letters were forwarded by the jail authorities. On March 7,Asthana wrote another letter,ruing lack of security and also pointing out that despite orders of the court,he had not been provided any security nor any arrangements been made to keep his co-accused away from him. In the same letter,he also said in case anything happened to him,the responsibility for the same would be that of the administration.

Incidentally,in view of the sensitivity of the case and perceived threat to Asthana’s life,the jail officials had decided that only five registered persons recommended by Asthana would be allowed to meet him. A senior jail official told The Indian Express that after Asthana submitted the five names,police verification was got conducted on them.

“We got these five visitors photographed and only these were allowed to meet Asthana,” claimed the jail official. However,Asthana’s lawyer Nitin Verma said the fact that Asthana died in jail under mysterious circumstances despite such precautions is what call for a thorough probe.

“Asthana feared for his life,something that he also brought to the notice of the court. But,even then he is dead,” Verma said. It wasn’t only the judiciary that Asthana asked for help from to save him. He wrote letters to the Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police and other senior officers.